Reality Intrusion
by CdnJAGScribe
Summary: The safe, but neutered Harmon Rabb has always been her fallback guy…
1. A Hot Shower Turns Cold

"Reality Intrusion"

Author: Haruo Chikamori

E-mail: hhchikamori

Rating: M

Classification:

Spoilers: N/A

Summary: The safe, but neutered Harmon Rabb has always been her fallback guy…

DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims-Roberts et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC characters are the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended.

Author's Note: In between laundry and spring cleanup…there are all sorts of weird things that come to mind. Yes…this MALE knows how to do laundry – whites with whites, colors separate (if they bleed), linens…etc… Blah blah blah…

* * *

 _ **8541 Miguel Vista Pl, San Diego, CA, 2008, Saturday Morning**_

The blue sky heralded what looked to be another perfect San Diego morning. The cul-de sac of the quiet little neighborhood only heard the twitter of song birds in the branches of trees – the staccato chirps of cardinals, the noisy chatter of a great tailed grackle.

Mac sighed as she stretched her arms over her head and let the sounds of the birds entice her from a light sleep. It had been three years since she had made the decision to leave Washington and take on command at RLSO – San Diego. It was the right move for her and she knew that any lingering doubts were just the meandering thoughts of a discomfited mind. For the first six months, she had misgivings about the decision she had made, the fact that she had flat turned down Harm's proposal of marriage in favor of the new challenges that she would face in San Diego; after all, the prospect of command was much more shiny and appealing than a nine year tarnished friendship that was being forcibly turned into marriage through mutual orders to separate postings. She had ignored his constant calls to her – the costs of picking up the phone were astronomical compared to just letting the answering machine take the message.

The misgivings over Harm, didn't stunt Mac's dating any. She dated several men in quick succession trying to find Mr. Right, not that her attempts yielded any fruit in the form of a decent relationship, but at least it had kept her on the social scene. Whether it was the specter of Harmon Rabb looming over her relationship or not, she didn't know, but none of them had turned out.

She knew better than to date anybody in uniform – her experiences with John Farrow had taught her that much at least. And she made sure that she didn't; none of the men that she had dated and sometimes spent the nights with were military, one was a civilian defense lawyer, another was a trauma surgeon; all equally unavailable to her at any rate due to their hectic schedules – a quick liaison was usually the result of a frantic hookup, carefully calculated to quell any hormonal longings for a long since dead _relationship-that-never-was_ back in Washington.

Abruptly curtailing the stroll down memory lane, she got up out of her bed, walked over to her kitchen, and set the Keurig machine on to brew a nice cup of hot coffee. The Keurig was her one vice – but she drank the coffee Marine strong. Once she was finished her early morning coffee, she strode to the door to pick up her newspaper on the front doormat. At least the sight of her would titillate the neighbor across the street who never failed to look out his window.

She picked up the Saturday edition off her front step – which she would read after she finished showering and placed it on the kitchen table, after which she walked down the hallway, stopping at the hallway closet to pick up a freshly washed, dried and folded towel, pausing only to drop her panties and tank top in the laundry hamper and gathering a fresh pair of panties and another tank-top. Laying her clothes on the change-table next to the shower, she stepped out of her sandals. Setting the tap to hot, she adjusted the temperature so that it was comfortable enough to get into. Stepping into the shower, she sighed – during the week she had to grab Navy Showers, as she had to get dressed quickly in her Marine uniform and head for the base. On the weekends she luxuriated in a Hollywood shower – to hell with summer water restrictions.

Tilting her head back she luxuriated in the feel of the water pounding her scalp, the hair plastered to her skull. Keeping it short and manageable was her mantra when it came to being a US Marine. It enabled her to save on shampoo and it looked strac when covered by a US Marine Corps cover. The rivulets of water streamed down her fit and tight body as she rubbed the soap all over and her mind took an unwanted detour as she wondered how Harm's hands would feel running all over her body. She closed her eyes and moaned softly indulging in a fantasy of _what could have been_ , while her hands roamed places unmentionable. Her soft cry of "Oh…Harm…" jerked her out of her fantasy. It never was going to come to fruition and she frustratedly shook her head and then finished her ablutions, although the fantasy never failed to coax her body to fruition, unlike those other men she had dalliances with.

The welcome cooler air against her overheated body was refreshing as she dried herself with the towel and hung it on the towel rack to dry before she would place it in the laundry hamper. She picked up the tank top and slipped into it, the feel of the very light cotton touching against her breasts, and then slipped on her panties, then grabbing a pair of cotton lounging shorts, she hastened to the kitchen to brew her second cup of coffee of the morning and to sit down with the morning paper.

About six pages into the morning paper she came across the article.

 _Captain Harmon Rabb Jr. USN, becomes Deputy Commander of Naval Air Station North Island. A former officer with the Judge Advocate General Corps, he is also a former naval aviator and will be overseeing the naval air station and its activities and interactions with the Coronado area community. He and_ _ **his wife Jennifer C. Rabb**_ _have called London home for three years and are looking forward to coming home from overseas after a three year tour of duty as Force Judge Advocate in London._

Mac didn't even notice her favorite cup shattering on the tile of her kitchen floor and the splash of coffee against her legs as the words blurred on the page.

For a brief second the birds in the neighborhood stopped their incessant birdcalls as an anguished "NOOOOOOOO!" rang out, causing several neighbors to briefly wonder for a second about the cry then go about their daily tasks.

Life went on as usual in that quiet neighborhood unaware of the fact that for one resident, life had come to an absolute standstill as she sat in her chair unmoving while the tears dripped down her face.


	2. Life Just Took A Dump In The Crapper

Author's Note: These are going to be short-short stories. 1 to 2 pages in Word…so they won't be very long at all.

* * *

 _ **RLSO – San Diego, San Diego, CA, Monday Morning**_

Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie sat down with her Marine grade coffee at her desk in the CO's office of the Region Legal Services Office in San Diego where she was the Commanding Officer. After the heart-rending news that she'd read in Saturday's paper had sunk in, she realized just how much she'd screwed up, big time. Harm was now the XO of NAS North Island and would be coming in to take over under Captain Westridge who was the Commanding Officer of the naval air station at Coronado. And the fact that Harm's buddy from his Seahawk would be dropping in every so often just made life _just peachy_ and not in the good sense of the word. His buddy was a three-star and slated to command the COMNAVAIRPAC/COMNAVAIRFOR position.

Then to have to stomach seeing Harm in the general vicinity along with that simpering little petty officer that he had made his wife, made Mac's stomach roil in protest. Mac gritted her teeth as she pulled a file from her inbox that she had to supervise. Her mood had taken a nosedive all weekend and not even Monday had brightened her mood. In fact Monday had just made it worse.

The phone rang on her desk and Mac reached for the phone. "Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie." She answered.

"Good…I've reached you." VADM Kenneth Hollister, the new JAG who had just replaced outgoing LGEN Gordon M. Cresswell, intoned. "I've finally managed to get you a new XO. With the XO position redacted and the position vacant until the current fiscal budget, I've had to move mountains to get you a new XO. I hope you're satisfied."

"Yes, sir." Mac replied.

"She was notified a week earlier and she should be reporting today…at some point during the afternoon."

"Understood, sir…" Mac said: a little good news was in order for the day. She'd be obtaining a new XO and the fact that her command position got a little lighter with the in-processing of the new executive officer for RLSO – San Diego would allow her some leeway to pass off some of the command duties.

"I hope you can work with her…" RADM Hollister stated as his voice sounded slightly amused over the telephone. "She's Navy. Knowing how you Marines and Navy get along, I hope there isn't too much bloodshed while you're breaking her into her new role."

 _Her_. Mac thought as she coped with the revelation of a female XO. "Well, at least it can't be worse, sir, than working without an XO."

"I know, Colonel, you've been doing a hell of a job without one as of late. But we need to make sure that the XO position is solidified at RLSO or they may cut the position out completely in the next budget. You know how they hatchet jobs out of the budget that they don't deem necessary."

"Yes, sir…" Mac nodded as she replied, holding the receiver. "I understand completely."

 _ **RLSO – San Diego, San Diego, CA, Monday Afternoon 1330hrs**_

"Ma'am…" GSGT Victor Galindez smiled as he looked over at Mac. "Your XO has just arrived."

"Thank you, Gunny." Gunny Galindez was one of the few people Mac had managed to purloin from headquarters. He was glad to be over in RLSO – San Diego. It wasn't that far from New Mexico and he was able to visit with his relatives every so often.

"She's in your office right now, Ma'am."

"Thank you, Gunny." Mac strode towards her office. The Naval officer sitting in the chair in front of her desk was a three-striper commander. She had blonde hair, at least what Mac could see from the back of her. Striding into the office she said. "Good afternoon, Commander. Sorry I'm a bit late from lunch, but welcome aboard. We certainly can use you. We've been shorthanded lately."

"Thank you, Colonel." The Navy commander's voice was soft, mellifluous and had a Texas twang. "Commander Meg Austin reporting for duty, Colonel. Hi, I'm your new XO."

Mac stareed at the pretty young Commander who stated that she was going to be her XO. Surely the gods were conspiring against her because her life just took an enormous dump in the crapper.


	3. The Woman Who Dumped Harm

_**The Ferry Landing Marketplace, Coronado Island, Coronado, CA**_

About a week after the two back to back unwelcome surprises, Mac was strolling along the walk at The Ferry Landing Marketplace; one of her preferred places to go when she was looking for some new décor or other items to spruce up her home. It was also a place where she wanted to spend some time alone to think back on a hectic week and an even worse previous weekend and perhaps put those memories to rest and probably pick up a few bargains in the process.

She looked up to just barely dodge a brunette pushing a baby carriage going the opposite direction. She seemed to be in a rush to get somewhere but she certainly didn't need to run Mac over while doing it. Her frazzled temper started to fray and the words came out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Watch the he-?" she started to say when the women she had railed at turned around glaring at her. Mac stopped cold.

"Excuse me?" The woman said sharply, her brown eyes flashing. "Perhaps if you'd…" then she stopped cold. "Colonel?" she said hesitantly as her eyes locked in on Mac and then a tinge of recognition and a slight look of alarm came across them.

"Legalman Coates?" Mac asked as she took in the slightly still rounded figure of a woman who had given birth about six months earlier. Obviously, Coates hadn't gotten her figure back entirely yet from giving birth.

"It's Jennifer Rabb now. I separated from the Navy almost two years ago…" the woman informed her.

Mac's voice dropped about six degrees. "So…when did you and Harm get married?"

"It was after I was separated from the Navy." Jen didn't bother responding viscerally to the implied fraternization regulations. "We spent a few evenings together after my retirement from the Navy and we found that we got along well. We got married about 15 months earlier."

"So…this was a honeymoon baby?" Mac asked.

"Yes." Jen's eyes went dreamy and Mac's stomach roiled uncomfortably. Mac thought she would throw up. Her own endometriosis had ended any thoughts of a natural childbirth. And considering how far along her condition was, she would end up having to use a surrogate if she wanted any chance of having a child of her own. "Harm wants at least three children…and I want at least that many." Jen went on. Mac felt sick to her stomach.

"Oh…we'll have our chance…" A much familiar and oh so dreamed about voice intruded on Mac's auditory nerves. She looked at the speaker, tall…so handsome that it should have been illegal and a grin that made her legs turn to jelly. "Who you talking to? Jen? Oh…" he said as his eyes focused on who Jen had been talking to. "Colonel Mackenzie."

"Captain Rabb…" Mac stated formally. Harm's eyes were curious but aloof. That relationship was deader than the proverbial dead horse. There was an uncomfortable silence as the two ex-friends stared at each other.

"So…how are you finding Region Legal Services Office – San Diego. I heard from Lieutenant General Cresswell that you have made it quite the efficient running office." Harm said shortly.

"Well…that's high praise from Gen. Cresswell…" Mac replied, uncomfortable in the closeness that Jen and Harm were exhibiting.

"Well deserved, I'm sure." Jen inserted her viewpoint. "You know, dear," she said to Harm, "You almost lost me to the colonel because she asked me to come to San Diego." Mac nearly lost it at the affectionate form of address.

"Oh…Harm…darling. Look at what I found…" came another voice from one of the stalls. "You should take a look at this eagle photograph that I picked up for a song. Some photographer from British Columbia took this photo. Absolutely amazing. An image just at the point where the eagle hits a fish in the water…you can see the eagle's talons out ready to spear the fish. I think I'm going to hang this in Frank's reading room. I'm sure that Frank would absolutely love it; he so loves eagles. Oh…who are you and Jen talking to?" The auburn haired woman strode up to Harm and showed him her prize acquisition to Harm and Jen who nodded and oohed at the prime photo taken at exactly the right moment.

"Mom, this is Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie… Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie, my mother, Trish Burnett."

Trish's eyes narrowed. "It's nice to meet you…" her smile turned frigid, evidently she knew the whole story behind Harm going to London alone.

Mac made a hasty excuse that she was meeting someone and departed before things could get really ugly. But it wasn't quick enough; as she retreated, she caught the words uttered archly by Trish carrying on the slight breeze

"Was that the woman who dumped Harm when he proposed to her?"


	4. Will You Give Me A Fair Go, Sarah?

_**8541 Miguel Vista Pl, San Diego, CA, 2008, 1530hrs Sunday afternoon**_

Mac was trying to enjoy her afternoon after a most embarrassing confrontation with Jen, Harm and his bitch of a mother, Trish. She insinuated that Mac had turned Harm down flat. The stinging comment thrown at Mac's retreating back had irritated and annoyed her to no end and for the second weekend in a row, her equilibrium and her entire weekend was ruined.

Normally she wasn't one to put the boob-tube on and kill brain cells but after a Saturday like yesterday, she was wont to do so. At least if any more brain cells were removed from the operation of her skull, she wouldn't be regretful of the whole incident that cascaded into such a clusterfuck.

She wondered if she should order pizza and be done with it that night for dinner. Putting a call into the local pizzeria sounded like a great idea. Nothing like a big flat Italian pizza slathered with tomato sauce, greasy sausage and bacon and feta cheese and capicola in a big fattening steamy lump of cholesterol to satisfy one's desire for something unhealthy.

"Hi…I want a large meat-lover's pizza with feta, sausage, bacon, peppers, and capicola…lots of capicola. I don't want to feel my tastebuds after I finish eating this pizza." Mac stated to the person who took her order. "Twenty minutes?" she asked in regards to the amount of time that it would take the delivery person to get there. Satisfied with the answer, she hung up.

Getting up to get herself a cup of coffee, she muttered. "Damn Harmon Rabb Jr." she said. "Of all the places that he could get assigned to, it would have to be near where I am." When the cup of coffee was done, she returned to her seat and flicked on the boob-tube with an unhappy grumble. There really wasn't anything worth watching on TV. Flicking through the channels. "Lost, Mentalist…that weird show with that goth crime scene analyst – some TV show idea of how NCIS operated, bleh… "Gibbs would laugh his ass off about who they got to play him. Some has-been by the name of Mark Harmon… Hah…" she said to no-one in particular. "next channel… Ugh. American Idol… Where's the American Classics channel?"

She finally found it in the guide and switched to it. "Oh…bloody hell…the Caine Mutiny!"

 _ **8541 Miguel Vista Pl, San Diego, CA, 2008, 20 minutes later**_

A California license-plate emblazoned Jaguar X207 pulled up to the curb of the house on Miguel Vista Place. A strapping man sporting well-coiffed brown hair, sharp eyebrows and a strong chin dressed in a suit with a white t-shirt, the muscles rippling underneath the suit arms. "Beauty, that's the place. She's got to be here. " He uttered softly as he looked over at the house. Marching up to the door he rang the doorbell. When the woman who owned the place answered the door, he placed the bouquet of flowers in her hands. "Sarah, my love…it's been so long. I made a mistake when I told you to go back to Harm. But I'm back…I'm not going to take no for an answer and I certainly will not rack off. I've had big mobs of time to think about what I said…and it was bodgy of me to say what I did. Will you forgive me, Sarah. I don't care if you tell me I've got a Buckley's chance but we had something bonzer before I carked it all up. So will you give me a fair go, Sarah?" and then heaved in a big breath as he had said all this in one.

A stunned Sarah Mackenzie, after she'd picked her jaw up off the ground, exclaimed, "Mic?"


	5. Coffee

_**Commander, NAS North Island HQ; Halsey Field, NAS North Island, San Diego, CA, Monday Morning**_

"Good morning, sir." Captain Harmon Rabb said as the short Japanese-American vice-admiral stalked through the front doors of the Commander, NAS North Island's headquarters building.

"Gotta go get some legal paperwork done at the JAG building." Grumbled VADM Toshio "Animal" Nakamura. "Where's Westridge?" Perfunctory tone, nary a civil hello. "By the way, Harm, don't you have some legal paperwork over at JAG to wrap up before taking over here?"

"Yes, sir." Harm's good mood took a nose-dive. He'd been putting it off because he didn't want to face Mac again. But he knew that he'd have to face the woman again. Nine years of being the woman's friend and then getting slapped in the face when he tried to propose still ate at his stomach like battery acid. He would have given up on relationships if it hadn't been for his Jennifer. Jen eased his depression, got him to go out and enjoy life and pulled him out of his shell, and eventually, he had fallen in love with her, had asked for her hand in marriage and they had become a family. When Jen had stated to him that she was pregnant, he was overjoyed and they looked forward to starting their new family with a clean slate. But running into Mac over the weekend had thrown him for a loop. He hadn't realized how closely the RLSO San Diego at Naval Base San Deigo was going to be working with Halsey Field. The legal paperwork that accompanied the takeover of the XO position was to be signed off on by JAG so that everything was completely above-board.

But he didn't want to go, so he deflected. "In answer to your previous question, Captain Westridge is in his office."

"Nope, Harm, I'm out here now…" Captain Jonathan Westridge smiled as he stepped out of his office. "I think COMNAVAIRFOR and I have to talk to JAG about some matters regarding the exercise that the Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific has slated with Fallon. Just a few legal matters to wrap up. So why don't we all go down there together."

Harm felt like a convict being led to the electric chair but nodded.

Animal noticing Harm's mood smirked darkly. "So…cheer up, Rabb, embrace the suck and we'll all stop in at the Night and Day Café on the way back…" as if to sadistically make Harm feel somewhat better. Captain Westridge agreed wholeheartedly with the vice-admiral's choice of food place. The Night and Day Café was a greasy spoon restaurant specializing in grilled food. Harm wondered if for this vegetarian the day could get any worse.

 _ **Region Legal Services Office San Diego, Naval Base San Diego SJA, San Diego, CA 25 minutes later**_

Mac grumbled to herself. Her day had already gone into the toilet; after the surprise visit from Mic Brumby the afternoon before, and her XO already taking charge of most of the things that made her command efficiently run, there wasn't much else for her as a CO to do other than to look official. Meg was entirely too efficient of an officer and on top of that, she was capable enough to be looking at an O-6 promotion in the next few years. While with her own many missteps, Mac would be lucky to see an up or out situation. What else could go wrong today?

"ATTENTION ON DECK!" Gunny Galindez's roar from the bullpen caused Mac to look up to see in dismay two familiar faces. Harm and the COMNAVAIRFOR standing in her office. The third officer she recognized as CO NAS North Island. It must have been the paperwork that she was supposed to make sure that the COMNAVAIRFOR and Harm managed to complete. _That was today?_ She questioned and checked her day-timer to make sure of it. It was so and the mocking entry on her timer indicated that. She groaned. It was supposed to have been couriered to the Branch Office Naval Air Station North Island and she had failed to get it out. The vice-admiral didn't look too happy when he had walked in.

She got up out of her seat and headed out to the office bullpen. "Vice Admiral Nakamura, sir! I apologize for your having to come down here."

Animal looked at her dourly. "Forget that we have a branch office? Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie?" The whole point of his coming down was to sign the form and make the Lieutenant Colonel aware of her faux pas.

Mac winced. A silver oak leaf did not make a three-star come down to do anything. Everything was at the vice-admiral's convenience. This did not bode well for the remainder of her day at all, let alone her career.

"Perhaps another cup of coffee might do the trick…" Animal said sarcastically. "I hear it helps the memory."


	6. Aren't Marines supposed to be persistent

_**Region Legal Services Office San Diego, Naval Base San Diego SJA, San Diego, CA 1300hrs**_

Mac was feeling a whole new level of depressed, after being thoroughly berated by VADM Nakamura for screwing up badly with regards to the legal management of her command and having taken up a ton of VADM Nakamura's time, which he made absolutely plain-to-everyone at a volume that would have made a "blue-eyed" Dalmation wince, when her XO came into the office. "Colonel Mackenzie?"

"Yes, Meg…" Mac sighed heavily. She was still bristling from being upbraided. The damned naval aviator golden boy, Harmon Rabb, she swore, had smirked while that damned self-righteous _stuffed shirt_ flag officer was busy tearing her a new rectal orifice. _Damn that sanctimonious bastard_.

"Have you seen the requisition forms for office supplies that we're supposed to file with NAVSUP; we seem to have run out." Commander Austin said. "Your Gunny said that you have an order-form template that we photo-copy to submit for any further Navy Supply requests."

"Yes, Commander Austin, we have them here…" Mac turned to the binder on the desk where she kept all the printed out copies of forms templates.

"NAVSUP P- 485 Volume III indicates that supplies need to be stocked up to standards bi-annually, ma'am. We seem to be short in all areas." Mac raised her eyebrows at Meg. Surely the XO couldn't be insinuating that she, the CO, was lax in procurement. Meg looked smug. "Colonel Mackenzie, we'll have to make sure that we top up everything and that's going to mean complete inventory of our entire stores of file folders, papers, ink cartridges, etc etc. I'd state a complete list, but it would take far too long to itemize verbally. I'll have a list for you in two days time."

Here Mac had thought that timely completion of cases and bi-monthly progress reports were the be-all and end-all of keeping the command efficient. She was sadly mistaken. She had grossly misjudged the administrative aspect of the command as well.

"XO? Are you advising Legal staff to keep up-to-date-tabs on supplies?"

"Yes, CO…we're going to implement a system that will enable us to not have this problem ever again." Meg grinned.

"Very good. Good work staying on top of it. XO."

 _ **COMNAVAIRFOR, Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, CA**_

"What the hell?" CNO growled. "You want me to talk to VADM Hollister? Just what kind of zoo is he running over at RLSO SW?" he paused for a moment. "And what the hell was LGEN Cresswell thinking when he put an O-5 Marine in charge of JAGRL **SOS** W?! Hell…judging from the clusterfuck that's going on over there, three of the letters of the acronym make absolute peachy sense!"

"Well, aside from wasting two and a half hours of my time trotting my ass down to collect papers that could have been couriered directly to my office…the only good thing that came out of it was the fact that we ate at the local greasy spoon…and my Trace didn't complain about my eating habits for once!" Animal snapped, still slightly irritated. "I gotta command to run here. I've got Commander, Fleet Air, Western Pacific, COMACCLOGWING, COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC, Commander, Patrol And Reconnaissance Group, Pacific, COMVAQWINGPAC, COMHSLWINGPAC, COMHSWINGPAC and COMHELSEACOMBATWINGPAC all hopping up and down like constipated baboons wanting to go beat on oversized submersible tin cans."

"Who's the XO over at SW?" CNO asked.

"Commander Megan Austin."

"Enough time in rank?"

"Damn near. Isn't her OMPF supposed to go in for O-6 consideration next boards? She just took over as XO."

CNO hemmed and hawed for a long moment. "So…she's relatively new in town, but she's already started a inventory into the command and has found several discrepancies in the short time she's been there. I got her report faxed to me yesterday"

Animal snorted. "Judging from the reception I got over there, I'm sure she's found more than a couple. She your spy there, Bob? Because she's setting up to take over there from the looks of it."

"Well, if she can do it…" Admiral Bob Whelan, Chief of Naval Operations replied.

"Then all the more power to her. If it comes down to it. Let me break the bad news."

 _ **Region Legal Services Office San Diego, Naval Base San Diego SJA, San Diego, CA 1630hrs**_

Gunny Galindez knocked on Mac's door, "Ma'am. Telephone call for you from a Chloe Madison?"

Mac nodded in thanks and picked up the phone. "Hi, Chloe"

"So…" Chloe said in the most annoyingly sweet voice that she could manage. "Have you talked to Harm recently?"

"Yes…actually." Mac winced. "He's now the Executive Officer of Naval Air Station North Island."

"Well…that means he's right close to you now." Chloe's voice was too annoyingly saccharine for Mac's liking. Plus on top of that she was eighteen and dating to her father's aggravation. It meant that poor Master Chief Kyle Anderson was cleaning his shotgun on the porch at the farm when he waited on Chloe's dates to return her home. "So how is he doing now?"

"He's married." Mac said shortly, unreasonably irritated by the cross examination of her brash eighteen year old _Little Sister_.

"Really?" Chloe sounded too cheerful. "Who's he married to?"

"Jennifer Coates."

"WHAT?!" Chloe sounded amazed. "You mean he married that woman that he was escorting as a prisoner?! You mean the one that he was assigned to guard?! The one that…"

"Yes…that's the one…" Mac gritted out. "She resigned from the Navy after she hit Chief and then promptly decided to go after Harm..and he fell for it, hook, line and sinker!" The last four words were spat out like bullets from a gun.

"Wow…" Chloe sounded amused which made Mac's blood pressure rise incredibly. "Aren't Marines supposed to be persistent? Because the Navy certainly got the better of you this time…I gotta go… Dad's calling me for dinner. See you, Mac." Chloe hung up.

There was a phone sized dent in the door of the cabinet a few moments later while the phone slingshotted back on its cord and caught poor Sarah Mackenzie in the knee.


	7. The Vultures Are Circling

_**Region Legal Services Office San Diego, Naval Base San Diego SJA, San Diego, CA 1650hrs**_

"OW! Dammit!" Mac swore as she rubbed her leg. The telephone handset had boomeranged back on the cord and had scored just under her kneecap right where the doctor usually smacked it with the hammer to test one's reflexes. "That hurt!"

"Are you all right?" Meg asked as she opened the door slightly to poke her head in as she saw LCol Mackenzie hopping around on one leg.

"Damned phone!" Mac moaned as the pain in her kneecap travelled up and down her synapses.

Meg looked seriously confused as she looked at the phone dangling off the desk not on its receiver and to Mac rubbing her knee frantically. "Let me get the Corpsman." Meg said as she hurried off to get the corpsman ignoring Mac's frantic wave-offs.

"No…don't…aw…damn!" grumbled Mac as the door closed behind Meg.

Ten minutes later, Meg returned, with a Hospital Corpsman in tow – all commands had to have one on staff, just in case there was an emergency.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Mac was asked for the second time…this time by the hospital corpsman whose nametag read " _Patella_ ". That must have been a cruel joke. Inspecting the injured area which was now sporting a nice red bruise and some swelling, he hemmed and hawed for a long moment, then looked up at her. "Well, ma'am, you gave your patella…" he pointed at his knee, just so Mac wouldn't get confused. "…a nasty shock, but as far as I can tell, there isn't any significant injury, just a nasty bruise. What did you hit it with?" his eyes travelled to the phone which was still hanging off the desk. Mac couldn't resist her eyes going to the dent in the filing cabinet, which in turn caused the HM3 Patella to look that way too as did Meg. "Ma'am…you might want to ice that injury or your knee will be stiff and sore tomorrow morning." He said, as straight-faced as he possibly could under the circumstances, and knowing the mood of the Marine Lieutenant Colonel he was treating, he'd get charged for disrespecting an officer if he gave into his inclination to laugh hysterically.

"You might also want to refrain from hurling objects with a return address." Meg said softly; the softness of her voice hiding a mirthful expression. Mac glowered at her.

"Not a word…" she glared at the HM3.

"Wouldn't even think of it, ma'am." The Hospital Corpsman said as he exited the office – containing his laughter was going to be next to impossible, but if he could manage to exit the building and find some cover…

Meg said, "Would you like me to get one of the legalmen to look at seeing if they can get the dent out of your filing cabinet, Colonel?"

"That won't be necessary, Commander, I'm sure that will remind me to keep my temper in check…" Mac winced as another twinge of pain shot up her thigh from her kneecap.

 _ **Region Legal Services Office San Diego, Naval Base San Diego SJA, San Diego, CA 0800hrs (Next day)**_

"Ma'am, someone here to see you."

Mac heard from her yeoman, LN1 Paradis, as she picked up the phone and barked. "Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie!"

"He's been sitting here for about ten minutes now."

"Send him in!" she barked, irritated at the constant interruptions that had happened that day so far and the work day hadn't even passed the two hour mark yet.

"Lieutenant Colonel." She knew that voice as she looked up slowly. He didn't look any older than when he had been wearing whites and a gold encrusted set of shoulder boards.

"Sir…" she stood up.

"Colonel, I'm retired." He said gruffly. "Don't get up on my account." He still couldn't get the admiral's demeanor out of his system, it seemed even after four years away from the Navy. "So…Mac…how are you doing?"

"Fine…" Mac said sighing deeply. "I have a second in command who seems to be more on the ball than I am…and I think she's using this as a stepping stone to command that involves ousting me." Clenching her fists in tension and then quickly releasing the grip, she said. "I ran into Jennifer Coates…the other day. It appears that she had a baby."

"I know…" her visitor said. "Evidently the little one is a feisty little kid. I hope to think he'll go into the Teams, but well…his father insists that he'll become a naval aviator." Mac winced and the crusty ex-SEAL noted it. "I see you ran into Harm as well."

"Yes, evidently they've been married for a while…" The bitterness in Mac's voice started to seep out and her visitor raised an eyebrow.

"Well…yes, and they seem to be happy together." He noted casually which made Mac almost dig grooves into the arm rests of her chair with her fingernails.

In a sudden fit of pique she growled "Why couldn't I have been smart enough…to…to…" she stammered, "…make how I felt known…"

"Well, Mac, you turned him down flat when he asked you to marry him." The former admiral said as he looked at her. "And remember, I told you at the very beginning to _not get close_ …because you'd be working together."

"Shows how well I managed to listen to you." Mac snorted bitterly.

"You and Rabb never really listened well." RADM AJ Chegwidden, United States Navy (ret.) commented casually. "I often wondered how the hell you two managed to get into the scrapes that you did."

"We didn't intend to have things turn out the way they did, sometimes."

"Well, it wasn't for the lack of trying…" AJ said acerbically. "I sent you to the psychiatrist after Paraguay so that you could see what sort of damage you were doing to yours and Harm's friendship by pushing him away."

"I thought it was for my PTSD…" Mac asked, a light dawning in her head.

"Well, there was the stress that you were under but the fact that you were making life hell for Commander (at the time) Rabb, just wasn't conducive to a good working environment. Understand that you're a good Marine, but you don't have to play Super Marine all the time. It's OK to feel like you're overwhelmed and need to ask for help. The military is a team and for the team to achieve their goals, they have to work as a team…and if you can't realize that…the best thing is for you to resign."

Mac's mouth hung open in shock. She couldn't believe that the admiral whom she'd thought had her back for so long was telling her this. She had no response to that.

"By the way, Mac, I saw Jennifer Rabb, she seems to be recovering her stamina quite well and Harm appears to be very happy. At least they're getting some sleep now after three hour interval wake up and feed the baby." AJ said, not realizing just how much this was stabbing the knife in and twisting.

Mac nodded. "You gave me a lot to think about, Admiral."

"Well…I didn't say that you should resign, just adjust that attitude and make efficient changes. Take command of your situation, Colonel. It's your career at stake." He got up.

"Who talked to you? Sir?"

"…the CNO…" AJ said shortly. "He wanted me to come down and have a _come to Jesus_ moment talk with you. The vultures are circling."


	8. JAGMAN Investigation

_**Flight 375, Washington DC to San Diego**_

The Asian US Navy officer in Row 38C was looking over her file as she returned from a trip to Washington DC. Her normal station was San Diego, ever since her husband took over command. Spousal co-location was terrific in that regards. The trip was due to the CNO and the SecNav (her god-father) wanting to see her on a matter of urgency and it had put her back in a Judge Advocate capacity. Looking down at the three half inch gold braids on the sleeves of her uniform, she smiled to herself. The assignment involved a promotion to the rank of Commander too as her godfather had told her that she had been selected for her O-5 at the selection boards.

She picked up her phone and dialed a number. "Hey, honey?" she murmured softly when she heard her husband pick up his office phone, citing his name and rank.

"Yeah…what's up, sweetheart." The voice of her husband made a warmth pool in her belly as she smiled. "So are you on your way back?"

"Yeah. I've just been assigned a JAGMAN investigation…I'll tell you more about it when I get back. I managed to catch my flight and I'm on my way back. Love you, sweetie." She purred at him.

"Love you too…" her husband said. "Did you need me to pick you up from the airport?"

"Naw…I'm going to be heading over to RLSO to make my presence known." She smiled a predatory smile. "The CO needs to know that I have my eye on her."

"OK…" her husband chuckled, his voice low on the phone line. "So how was DC?"

"Same as always, the same politics whether at the Pentagon or in the Capitol." She responded casually. There was still the UCMJ to consider especially dealing with politicians and one casual misstep could cause her career to implode. _So no talking ill of politicians_ , she thought to herself. Even though some politicians could be royal pain in the asses.

"How was SECNAV Sheffield?" her husband asked.

"Oh, he was fine, he asked about you; he indicated that there were openings coming up in the JCS." She volunteered as her husband snorted. He was happy being around jet fighters and the smell of avgas. "I know, I know, you hated Washington."

"Well, honey, I know I'd better let you go…" her husband reluctantly said… "Or the roaming charges will kill our cell-phone bill next month."

"I love you…so much…baby…" She stated, reluctant to let her husband go.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

 _ **Judge Advocate General, Region Legal Services Office South West, 1430 hrs**_

The Asian USN Commander stepped into the office and strode up to the Legalman sitting at the desk just to the right of the commanding officer's office. "Hi…" she said primly to the Legalman. "I have a two forty-five to see Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie?"

"Yes, ma'am… You must be the Commander that's come in from DC?"

"That would be me…" the Commander gave the Legalman a frosty grin. "Would Colonel Mackenzie happen to be free?"

"Yes, ma'am." The Legalman stuttered; he was wondering how a pair of luscious brown eyes could turn so cold and picked up the phone. "Ma'am. Your two-forty five appointment is here to see you."

Evidently Colonel Mackenzie had acknowledged him as the Legalman put down the phone. The clock minute hand had barely traversed five minutes before the door opened and the Marine Lieutenant Colonel stepped out into the anteroom.

"Manetti?" the Lieutenant Colonel asked, her jaw dropping open.

Commander Tracy Nakamura grinned a rather frosty grin, "I actually go by the last name Nakamura now." Mac's heart just dropped into her ankles. "I was briefed by the SECNAV…and have been asked to conduct a JAGMAN investigation into this office's efficiency."

Mac's brain spun in circles trying to put two and two together… _Nakamura…related to VADM Nakamura?...JAGMAN Investigation?...office's efficiency?_ Invariably her brain combusted.


	9. She's Related To Him!

_**Judge Advocate General; Region Legal Services Office, San Diego, CA**_

"You're kidding me, right?" Mac exclaimed; her eyes flashing in outrage. She had done what she was required to do and yet they were subjecting her command to a JAGMAN investigation. What else could go wrong. Then again she stopped herself from officially asking that because there was no need to tempt fate any further than she had already.

"I'm afraid not." CDR Tracy Manetti-Nakamura, or Tracy Nakamura or whatever the hell she called herself, dashed Mac's hopes that this was all some horrible mistake. "I was specifically requested by the Chief of Naval Operations and the Secretary of the Navy to investigate this matter and specifically make recommendations as to what changes if any are necessary. I will need to speak confidentially with your XO as well as with other key members of your staff." Mac looked despondent and Tracy opted to dig the knife in a little deeper. "Now if my findings are favorable, this could all blow over quickly; but if not; there will be a full NAVINSGEN investigation into the command." A spotlight of hope quickly extinguished.

Nope, the day couldn't get worse, Mac thought to herself.

 ** _Judge Advocate General; Region Legal Services Office, San Diego, CA; same day_**

"Reports have not been filed on time; appointments have not been kept. The RLSO has been under-staffed for some time. We have shortages on supplies needed for this office. In fact the whole command is suffering under a 'make-do' situation and has been for the past eight months according to staff." CDR Austin indicated as she looked over at CDR Nakamura who kept a poker face "There are tasks other than just dispensing court cases required to keep an operational command and those tasks are not getting met." CDR Nakamura jotted a notation down on her pad of paper as she indicated Meg to continue. And Meg gladly did. Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie had relaxed to the point of considering Meg to be familiar and allowing of Mac's usual patterns of work attendance. Mac would sometimes indicate that she needed to head for a doctor's appointment or some other matter and that she would exit the office at 1630hrs and not reappear until 0800 hrs the next morning usually citing traffic. This usually, according to Meg, happened about twice a week.

By the time that Meg was finished her personal observations; Tracy had filled up at least six pages of Mac's faults and was more and more certain that she would have to implement a NAVINSGEN investigation. "Is there anything else that would indicate an indiscretion on her part or at the very least a lack of attention to her command?" Tracy asked as she looked at Meg.

"Not that I'm personally privy to." Meg replied as she returned Tracy's gaze. "But if I hear anything further, I won't hesitate to inform you, Commander." She stood up and shook Tracy's hand.

"I appreciate that; Commander Austin." Tracy replied also standing to shake the hand of the much taller woman.

"Not a problem, Commander Nakamura; my first loyalty is to the command and to ensure that everything runs smoothly, efficiently and thoroughly. I do not feel a command should be subject to one who cuts corners in what she does." Tracy nodded at Meg's words. She felt the same way.

"I will require your assistance in obtaining evidence from your staff. If you could find me a list of people to interview tomorrow." Tracy asked.

"I can certainly do so." CDR Austin replied. "I'll have it for you at oh seven hundred hours."

"That would be terrific." Tracy replied. "I need to get home and cook dinner so I will leave off the interviewing here today."

"You live here?" Meg asked, surprised and a little angered at Mac for not informing her.

"Yes; I'm on spousal co-location but I still get assigned tasks by the SECNAV and the JAG direct from DC." Tracy replied to Meg's query.

 ** _Judge Advocate General; Region Legal Services Office, San Diego, CA;_**

"Commander, was your interview with my XO fruitful?" Mac asked, her tone rather spiteful and bitter after the shock from the sudden arrival of one Commander Tracy Nakamura.

"You understand that all information is confidential. But I can tell you this much." Tracy grinned at Mac, her tone venomous. "It's becoming more and more evident that a NAVINSGEN investigation will undoubtedly be needed." She paused for a long moment to let that sink in. "Now I have to head home and make dinner for my husband; since he tends to growl if his dinner isn't on the table by eighteen thirty hours. Oh you might know him..." She adopted a look of smug satisfaction.

"Really?" Mac raised an eyebrow.

"He's the COMNAVAIRFOR." Tracy smirked as she walked out the door.

Mac stood silently glued to the spot while the swinging door swung for a long moment.

About twenty minutes later an enraged scream of "She's RELATED TO VICE ADMIRAL NAKAMURA?!" was heard through the entire building.


	10. Coffee II

_Author's note: The next updates for my stories will take a while. With car being in the process of getting fixed (broke down) and the necessity of going out to shoot photography to put food on the table, it may take a while for the next updates to pop up. Please read and review my other fics and I'll try to put an update up as soon as I can._

 _ **4621 Byrd Road, San Diego, CA**_

Vice Admiral Toshio Nakamura, COMNAVAIRFOR, stopped for a moment as he regarded the dark-haired woman in civvies standing at the kitchen washing dishes. It took a long moment for the woman to realize that she wasn't alone in the kitchen any more and turned, smiling at him; her amusement evident in her dark brown eyes. "Hey." Animal said softly, "you're home..."

"Yeah. I'm home." She affirmed as she stopped the water and wiped her hands on a towel to dry them. Then she walked over to Animal, reaching up to caress his face, leaning in to give him a tender kiss on the lips which he returned eagerly; his hands tangling in her hair. When they separated long enough to breathe, she whispered; "Wow, what a greeting. You must've missed me."

"Lots." Animal looked at her, "The bed was empty without you home."

"And lonely too, I bet." She grinned at him.

Animal nearly crushed her to him with a passionate hug, "Trace, you know I can't sleep when you're not home."

"I know, honey." Tracy replied as she gave Animal another kiss. "I felt the same way during your last tour as Battle Group Commander when they sent you out to the Med. I couldn't sleep a wink knowing you were out there." She remembered that deployment almost three years ago. They had been barely married two months then and the two lovers hadn't slept a wink on either end. It had been a relieved and teary Tracy Nakamura that had greeted Animal at the foot of the gangplank of the USS Nimitz. Animal reached out a hand to caress his fingers gently over the worry lines around the edges of her eyes and Tracy pressed her cheek against the palm of his hand. "I love you..." She whispered as she turned her head slightly enough to kiss his fingers.

"I love you too..." He said softly as he leaned in to run his warm lips against Tracy's. Tracy Nakamura closed her eyes and enjoyed the tender kiss.

When the kiss had finished, Tracy smirked, caressing her husband's cheek, saying, "I was brewing up some coffee…want some?"

Animal nodded. "What kind?"

"Java Triple Brewed; it's strong but I'm gonna have a lot of things to do in order to get this investigation underway."

"Sounds rather intensive," Animal commented. "Sure coffee will be enough to keep you awake?"

Tracy gave him another peck on the cheek. "Hmmm, I'm not sure, but if not, I can certainly think of ways you can help."

 _ **8541 Miguel Vista Place, San Diego, CA**_

Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Mackenzie was still steaming as she walked up her walk to the front door of her home. _How dare that bitch insinuate that she wasn't doing her job._ She had done everything that she was asked to complete. The records must have been mistaken. Someone else was to blame for this fiasco; she couldn't have done anything wrong. After all she was thorough in everything that she did. Someone else needed to pay for their mistakes.

Walking up to the door of her home she inserted the door key, unlocking the door to her home. Spitefully, she grumbled to herself, _I need coffee; that bitch needs to pay for her insinuations_ in that order.

Tossing her handbag to the side, and taking off her Marine Corps Service A jacket, she tossed it haphazardly on the couch, knowing full well that action would have her doing at least forty five minutes of ironing just to get it wearable the next day or perhaps a run to the dry-cleaners tonight would have to suffice. The latter meant that she wouldn't be able to wear the Service A jacket the next day, but who cared? After all, it was summer and _I'm able to get away with Service B uniform and piss-cutter_ , she thought. She relieved herself of the rest of her clothes and got into a Marine Corps sweatpants and T-shirt. _Marine Strac through and through_. She complimented herself.

Walking over to the Keurig; she grabbed a cup, turned on the faucet to fill it up and then poured the cold water into the Keurig machine. Grabbing a K-Cup of Keurig Java Triple Roast, she popped it in the Keurig machine and pressed the _brew_ button. Standing back from the Keurig, she sighed as she realized that she was home, back in her refuge; and she would in roughly about two minutes be able enjoy a nice cup of gourmet coffee brewed at home. She was looking absolutely forward to that. It would soothe her nettled spirits.

It wasn't long before the Keurig sputtered and Sarah Mackenzie noticed to her ever increasing dismay a spreading hot puddle of clear water on her table top counter. Her Keurig had given up the ghost.


End file.
